Upcoming Events

The Nature of Oaks with Doug Tallamy

PIEDMONT MASTER GARDENERS
VIRTUAL VIA ZOOM AND FREE
GARDEN BASICS WORKSHOP: “TOMATOES AND TOMATO DISEASES”
Saturday, May 15
2:00 – 3:30 PM

Learn about growing tomatoes, their common diseases, and treatment.

Click HERE to fill out the registration form by 5:00 PM, Monday May 10, to attend this Garden Basics workshop. An invitation for this Zoom presentation will be sent to your email address on the morning of May 15th.

Although these workshops are free, registration is required. See this LINK for more information and to register.

HEARTFLAME GARDEN
OPEN TO VISITORS
650 Sandy Bottom Rd.
Near Elkton, Virginia 22827 (Adjacent to Shenandoah National Park)
Phone: (540) 298–8684
email: inanna@heartflamegarden.com

This three-season, breathtakingly beautiful garden stretches over 2 acres, and is open to the public free of charge. The garden owners, Inanna and Gabriel Garretson, ask that you call before visiting unless you plan on attending one of the OPEN days where everyone is invited without appointment. Open days for May are three Sundays –  May 2, May 9, and May 16 –  from 10:am- 4:00 PM. Please see this LINK for a list of the open days for the rest of the season, and look at recent photos of what’s in bloom. This garden is amazing!

JEFFERSON CHAPTER, VIRGINIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY AND THE
IVY CREEK FOUNDATION
SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR AT IVY CREEK, ON SITE OR VIRTUAL
Ivy Creek Natural Area
1780 Earlysville Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903
May 14 – May 29

A plant list is provided which has numbered the plants to correspond with the orange flags you find along the route of the walk. For an on-site walk, print this list and bring along a field guide to tell you about each plant as you find it. The plant list is also available at the Ivy Creek Kiosk.  You may also choose to download a free Izi travel app through Play Store or iTunes onto your phone. (It is helpful to download the walk before you arrive so that you are not reliant on cellphone service.) Please see this LINK for more information and for a plant list. If you prefer to do a virtual walk from home, follow the tour on your home computer use this LINK for Izi travel: https://izi.travel/en/bc1e-may-2021-vnps-plant-walk-at-ivy-creek-natural-area/en.

We would love your feedback after you experience this walk—in whichever version you choose. Please feel free to contact catherine@ivycreekfoundation.org.

VIRGINIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
STATE AND CHAPTER EVENTS

See this LINK for a listing of both virtual and in-person May events hosted by different state and chapters of the VNPS.

BLUE RIDGE PRISM (PARTNERSHIP FOR INVASIVE REGIONAL SPECIES MANAGEMENT)
INVASIVE PLANT WORKSHOPS: IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL
WORKSHOPS VIA ZOOM

These seasonally-focused workshops will enable you to learn how to confidently identify and manage invasive plants. The Zoom workshops contain the same content as in-person workshops except that the outdoor elements will be conducted when it is safe to do so. See this LINK for general information on PRISM, research updates, invasive plant factsheets, and more.

Summer Invasive Species Workshops
Wednesday, May 26th (1:00 – 4:00 PM) REGISTER
Saturday, June 12th (1:00 – 4:00 PM) REGISTER
Thursday, June 24th (9:00 AM -12:00 PM) REGISTER

Free Quarterly Events
July 21 – Invasive Warm Season Grasses – REGISTER
October 21 – to be announced

GROW NATIVE SERIES – VIRTUAL
THE PLANT VIRGINIA NATIVES PARTNERSHIP*
LAST OF SIX LECTURES, “RIGHT NATIVE IN THE RIGHT PLACE,” WITH JOHN MAGEE
Also Sponsored and Hosted by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and Blue Ridge PRISM
Tuesday, May 4
6:30 – 8:00  PM

Finding plants that will thrive under certain environmental conditions such as street side spaces, dry shade, rain gardens, small spaces, wet shade or near house/foundation plantings can be challenging. Learn how native plants are up to the task.

Although this series has started, registrations are still being accepted. See this LINK for more information and to register. Fee is $10. Look for information on another series to be offered this fall to help you continue your efforts and prepare for the winter.

*The Plant Virginia Natives Landscaping with Natives webinar series is coordinated and funded, in part, by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program through grants from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN
1800 Lakeside Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23228

See this LINK for visiting information with COVID guidelines; see the “What’s in Bloom” monthly calendar.

CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA TREE STEWARDS
FREE Classes via ZOOM

“Tree Basics Class: Identify and Control Non-Native Invasive Plants”
Sunday, May 23
2:00-4:00 PM
REGISTER

“Tree Identification by Season: Summer”
Tuesday, June 15
7:00-8:30 PM
See this LINK for information on when class registration begins.

These virtual classes are free, but if you would like to attend, we ask that you register. After you register, you will receive an email with a Zoom link a few days before the class.

THE NATURE FOUNDATION AT WINTERGREEN
41^ST ANNUAL SPRING WILDFLOWER SYMPOSIUM
“Wellness From the Forest”
Saturday, May 15 – Sunday May 16

This year’s event will be a hybrid model of both in person walks and virtual lectures. Topics covered by our leading experts share one commonality: the natural world has proven to be the key to our well-being. Presentations cover the wellness of the forest, acoustic archeology, and forest food for the soul and mind. There are lots of options! The majority of our programs will be virtual, but we will offer a few in person, socially distanced and masked walks led by Symposium instructors on Saturday, May 15.

Your registration allows you a playlist of programs for 30 days, so you don’t need to attend a particular weekend.

For more information, and to register, see this LINK, or call (434) 325-7451.

 NATIVE PLANTS FOR SALE AT THE NATURE FOUNDATION AT WINTERGREEN GREENHOUSE
725 Beech Grove Road, Roseland, VA 22967

The Greenhouse is closed Sunday and Monday; hours vary from Tuesday-Saturday. See this LINK for more information and to see a listing of native plants available for purchase. Plants can also be ordered online and picked up at an arranged time by emailing info@twnf.org

May Guided Hikes

For information on guided hikes, difficulty ratings, and to register, please see this LINK to the May-June calendar

CUBA CENTER VIRTUAL LECTURE SERIES

Twilight Garden Series: “Getting Started With Native Plants”
Instructor: Nancy Bell
6:00 – 7:30 PM

Register for one class, or for all three in the series:

May 12: Trees
May 19: Shrubs
May 26: Perennials

“Nature’s Best Hope”
Instructor: Doug Tallamy
Thursday, May 13
6:00 – 7:30 PM

See this LINK for more information on these lectures and others, and to register.

Mt. Cuba Center is a non-profit botanical garden located in Hockessin, Delaware near Wilmington. Its woodland gardens produce some of the most spectacular displays of wildflowers in the mid-Atlantic region. The botanical garden is now open to the public, see this LINK for info.  See this LINK for information on Mt. Cuba’s world-famous trial garden and study results.

ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE ALLIANCE
WEDNESDAY WALKS IN THE GARDEN

FREE WEBINAR SERIES
12:00 – 1:00 PM EDT

ELA is pleased to announce a second season of FREE online garden presentations covering a wide range of gardening topics to offer plant tips, gardening guidance, humor, and inspiration. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

See the highlighted session title links for more information and to register.

Beauty and Biodiversity at Cornell’s Mundy Wildflower Garden
Wednesday, May 5
The Journey of Edible Landscapes
Wednesday, May 12
Native Plants for Bird Friendly Communities
Wednesday, June 9
Fundamentals of Garden Layers
Wednesday, June 16

MONARCH JOINT VENTURE
The 2021 Monarch Conservation Webinar Series
4th Tuesday of the Month *
2:00 PM EST

The Monarch Joint Venture is partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center to put on another year full of informative and inspiring webinars on all things monarch. Webinars will be held live on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 2 PM ET. Each webinar will be recorded and for later viewing as well. Check on the session title to register.

Future Webinar Titles:

• May 25th – Monarch Butterfly Reproduction: From Physiology to Behavior
• June 22nd – Reinstalling Native Habitat on Private Property in the West
• July 27th – Aligning Mosquito Control with Pollinator Protection
• August 24th – Conserving Grasslands for Birds and Monarchs
• September 28th – Protecting and Restoring California’s Overwintering Groves
• October 26th – Recovery of the Monarch Butterfly: Federal and State Legislation that can Provide Hope for this Iconic Animal
• November 16th – The Monarch Butterfly Fund – Supporting Monarch Conservation in Mexico
• December 21st – Eco-literacy and Conservation: The Convergence of Research, Policy and Education

* The November and December dates have been moved to avoid conflicting with major holidays. Please note this list is subject to change. Their EVENTS PAGE will have the most up to date information on the webinar series, as well as a calendar of additional monarch-related events, and information on recordings of past webinars.

VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION (VCE) VIDEO LIBRARY

VCE offers a variety of YouTube videos on topics geared to both beginner and more advanced gardeners. Examples of topics include:

Vegetable Grafting for Home Gardens
Plant Disease Clinic: IDs and Diagnoses
Weed Identification: IDs and Diagnoses
Basic Entomology and Insect ID Lab
Soil Testing Lab: IDs and Diagnoses

For these and many more videos that address specific topics or those of more general interest, see this LINK.